A realization of what Rez always wanted to be
Rez Infinite is, at its surface, a VR port of Rez with a small bit of added content, which sounds somewhat boring at first glance, but is really a fulfillment of what Rez should always have been. Rez was always a game about immersing yourself in the experience of the sound and music and environments, and VR is just another step towards realizing that full immersion.
The initial offerings of the game are the same five areas that the original Rez offered, with little changed. VR controls work by looking at what you want to aim at, holding X to lock on to targets, and releasing X to fire. Very simple and straightforward, but the entire process feels quite natural and didn’t take any getting used to. In all honesty, it feels much faster to lock on to targets this way than by using the cursor manually before. A few areas feature some content that you can get a better shot at by looking fully behind you, but for the most part these areas are unchanged from the original game.
Area X, however, is where the entire experience shines. This is the full new area added to the game for VR, and it provides a much more complete VR experience than the previous areas. Unlike a traditional Rez level, Area X gives the player full agency of flying around the entire area freely. Together with some branching paths and higher-resolution graphics, the whole area feels like a full realization of what the developers always wanted to accomplish with Rez but just were not able to because of technical limitations. The area isn’t exceptionally long or difficult, but I had a dumb grin on my face playing through the whole experience.
Unfortunately, Area X is really the only new content that has been added to the game. A full playthrough of the game, from Area 1 to Area X probably wouldn’t take much more than an hour for most people. For many people, that will be all the time they engage with the game, which may make it a tricky value prospect. I can easily see myself coming back for at least one or two more playthroughs of the entire game, however.
For somebody who hasn’t played Rez before, this is probably the definitive version of the game to play, assuming you have a VR headset. If you have played it before, the VR will likely bring a new layer to the experience that is likely worth the cost of entry.
Rez Infinite made me more excited for a full new Rez game than I could have expected. Imagining a full game that plays out like Area X is really exciting prospect.
